Fall brings a new lineup to Belger, its 17th season. For most of 2016, the Belger galleries featured 10 exhibitions spanning more than 40 countries as part of the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA) conference. Next up, both locations shift their focus with exhibitions highlighting three artists with regional ties and international acclaim.
This fall Belger focuses on a local hero — the legendary Roger Shimomura. In its first showing outside the Pacific Northwest, “An American Knockoff” opens Oct. 7 through Jan. 14, 2017. This exhibition features acrylic paintings of Shimomura with recognizable American icons such as Porky Pig, Goofy the Dog, and Uncle Sam.
In this series, the artist inserts himself into the work, battling or becoming stereotypes in a tongue-in-cheek fashion, to personify the Asian-American experience.
Shimomura, who taught at the University of Kansas from 1969 until his retirement in 2004, was born in Seattle to American-born parents. When Roger was three years old his family was relocated to an internment camp during World War II. For much of his career Shimomura has examined the themes of internment and what it means to be American, feeling that “Far too many American-born citizens of Asian descent continue to be accepted as only ‘American knockoffs.’”
In addition to an outstanding career as an educator, Shimomura has maintained a steady art studio practice and exhibited in more 130 exhibitions. He has won numerous awards throughout this career, including a Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Other Belger exhibitions this fall include Dan Anderson of Edwardsville, Illinois and Paolo Porelli of Rome, Italy. Both exhibitions run Sept. 2 through Dec. 17.
Dan Anderson’s solo show titled “Mascots, Hearts of Love, and Proposals” is exhibited at the Belger Crane Yard Studios, 2011 Tracy Avenue. Anderson tells us the “Mascots” in the show reference large midwestern structures such as water tanks and corn cribs, along with the graffiti that can be found on these rural landmarks. He has been fascinated with these edifices since he climbed his hometown’s municipal water tank as a teen. Dan’s work, inspired by these iconic structures, can be found in exhibitions and collections throughout the world. In addition to sculpture, Anderson plans to bring some of his signature teapots and tea sets to Kansas City.
Anderson taught at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville from 1970 to 2002 and has maintained an active clay practice since retirement. Dan completed a residency in France over the summer where he created some of the works shown in this exhibition. A wood-fire enthusiast, his anagama wood-fired kiln in Edwardsville draws artists from far and wide for firings.
Paolo Porelli’s exhibit, “Humankind: The Sublime and The Ridiculous” is exhibited at the Belger Arts Center, 2100 Walnut Street. Known for his figurative sculpture, this body of work is a hybrid of ideas culled from mythological imagery, pop-culture references, and contemporary society to articulate the human behaviors — both good and bad.
Paolo created many of the exhibition works last winter during his Fellowship Residency at Belger Crane Yard Studios. Porelli came to the studio from Italy, where he has been running his own ceramics studio since 1990. In more recent years he and his wife, Lori-Ann Touchette, have operated c.r.e.t.a rome, an international art residency program.
The Belger Arts Center opened in March of 2000 and has welcomed more than 100,000 visitors from around the world. The Belger Crane Yard Studios joined the Belger Arts family tree in 2013 and provides galleries and studio space for more than 70 artists in the East Crossroads Arts District of Kansas City. For more information, check out the Belger Crane Yard Studios Facebook page, or visit www.belgerartscenter.org and craneyardstudios.org.
–Tracy Noyer
